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‘Go Ahead, Try It’: GOP Congressman Ripped for Threatening to Read Top-Secret Documents on the House Floor

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Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is among the many Republicans who has been attacking the Biden Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in response to the 37-count federal criminal indictment that former President Donald Trump is facing. Massie claims that the indictment is politically motivated, but Trump’s critics — including special counsel Jack Smith — have maintained that the indictment is about national security, not politics.

Trump is accused of mishandling government documents he was storing at his Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida, and 31 of the 37 counts are for alleged violations of the Espionage Act. The former president has insisted that all the documents at Mar-a-Lago were “declassified,” but Smith disagrees and alleges that Trump endangered national security by moving documents with classified, top-secret information to Mar-a-Lago — documents that, according to Smith, should have remained in Washington, D.C. when Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021.

On Monday, June 12, Massie claimed that the U.S. Constitution allows members of Congress to read “aloud” any of the documents in question.

READ MORE: Maddow: MSNBC will not air Trump’s post-arraignment ‘litany of lies and false accusations’

The Tea Party Republican tweeted, “For what it’s worth, under the Constitution, no member of Congress can be prosecuted for reading aloud on the floor any of the documents Trump allegedly has copies of.”

In response to that tweet, Democratic activist Kim Harris posted, “Go ahead, try it, Mr. Massie. @TheJusticeDept @DOJPH @FBI.” And Susan Vermazen, a former photo editor for New York Magazine and Rolling Stone, tweeted, “So you are on the KGB/Mafiya payroll too? The Saudis send you money?”

READ MORE: Fani Willis’ latest moves strongly indicate a Trump indictment in Georgia is coming this summer

 

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Moms for Liberty Deletes Statement Supporting Co-Founder Whose Husband Is Accused of Sexual Battery

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The far-right Christian nationalist organization Moms for Liberty issued, then later deleted, a statement declaring support for its co-founder after her husband, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, was accused of sexual battery by a woman who allegedly has had a consensual “three-way sexual relationship” with the married couple.

“The Sarasota Police Department is investigating a sexual battery allegation against Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, a political bombshell in the home state of former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis,” The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

“The alleged sexual battery occurred inside the woman’s home in Sarasota last month,” the nonpartisan Florida Center for Government Accountability adds, citing a police report. “According to sources close to the investigation, she said she and both Zieglers had been involved in a longstanding consensual three-way sexual relationship prior to the incident.”

The FLCGA also reports the “complaint was filed on October 4 and the alleged sexual battery occurred inside the woman’s home in Sarasota on October 2, according to the [police] report. Among the few words that went unredacted in the report are ‘rape’ and ‘sexual assault complaint.'”

READ MORE: Pence Bombshell Resurfaces Old Questions About Grassley and January 6

“Christian Ziegler is also alleged to have secretly videotaped the sexual encounters between the couple and the woman, sources said,” the FLCGA added.

Bridget Ziegler, the Moms for Liberty co-founder and the spouse of Christian Ziegler, “has become a star within the MAGA movement,” the FLCGA notes, adding she was “personally endorsed for her school board seat by Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who also appointed her in March to the state board that oversees the special district previously overseen by Disney World prior to DeSantis’s politically motivated feud with the entertainment company.”

Moms for Liberty was named an anti-government extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Thursday afternoon Moms for Liberty responded to the fast-spreading news reports, issuing a statement on the social media platform X saying they “stand with” Bridget Ziegler.

“Yet another attempt today to ruin the reputation of a strong woman fighting for America,” the group said, calling her a “badass” in a post that has since been deleted. Florida’s Voice confirmed the deletion.

READ MORE: ‘If I Leave They Win’: Santos Claims ‘Bullying’ at Off the Rails Press Conference

In 2021, Donald Trump at a Florida rally thanked then-Florida GOP vice chair, now Chairman Christian Ziegler, calling him a “friend,” someone who “made our country great,” and a “warrior.”

Watch below or at this link.

 

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‘Outrage’: MSNBC Slammed for Canceling ‘Vital Voice’ Mehdi Hasan

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It’s being called a “revamp,” an “overhaul,” and a “shakeup,” but media critics, journalists, and journalism experts are expressing outrage at MSNBC for its decision to cancel the weekend show anchored by Mehdi Hasan, who many see as an important voice against authoritarianism and the far-right.

Calling Hasan an “outspoken opinion host,” and “a cult favorite online for his tough interview style and impassioned monologues,” Semafor‘s Max Tani reported MSNBC “privately announced” the cancellation of Hasan’s show Thursday morning. Hasan “will become an on-camera analyst and fill-in host. The network plans to expand host Ayman Mohyeldin’s weekend program to two hours to replace Hasan’s show.”

MSNBC is also moving Jonathan Capehart’s show to 6 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, and is cancelling Yasmin Vossoughian’s weekend show.

The cable network will launch a new weekend show, “The Weekend,” which Mediaite reports “is billed as a politics and Washington-focused program. It will be hosted from Washington D.C. by MSNBC anchors Alicia Menendez, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Michael Steele on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 to 10 a.m. ET. Both Sanders-Townsend and Menendez will be leaving their weekend programs to join the new show.

READ MORE: ‘If I Leave They Win’: Santos Claims ‘Bullying’ at Off the Rails Press Conference

“Hasan has come under fire recently over his coverage of the Gaza war, specifically from conservative critics angry over his pro-Palestinian stance,” The Daily Beast adds. “Last month, Semafor reported that Hasan was one of three Muslim broadcasters who had been quietly pulled from the anchor’s desk following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack. A network official vehemently denied Semafor’s reporting that Hasan and others had been sidelined.”

“The same criticism Hasan has received over Israel-Hamas coverage from media rivals, however, has also followed fellow Muslim-American colleagues Velshi and Mohyeldin, who have retained their shows and even seen their roles expanded. Furthermore, as Confider reported in September, the revamped weekend lineup was already being hashed out prior to the start of the conflict in Gaza.”

Many, including those who have been critical of some of Hasan’s views, are expressing anger and outrage over the cancellation of his show, and concern for the direction of corporate media in general.

“This is an outrage,” declared journalist and media critic Dan Froomkin.

“As the warning signs for authoritarianism are going off, why demote a journalist who is really good on this topic?” asked Don Moynihan, professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Wesley Lowery, now an associate professor of investigative journalism at American University, wrote on social media that Hasan “is the best on-camera newsmaker interviewer in journalism.” He suggested, “someone give him a livelier version of what Charlie Rose once did. If you vow to measure the impact of your investment based on the quality of the journalism, not ratings or clicks, I’ll EP the first season.”

READ MORE: Pence Bombshell Resurfaces Old Questions About Grassley and January 6

“Without a doubt,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob, who writes a newsletter on politics and the media, Hasan “has been one of the most incisive anchors on MSNBC. The cancellation of his show is an outrage — and yet another example of how major media are failing us.”

“They still have a Republican former congressman hosting a show for like six hours every morning though right?” snarked political strategist, writer, and former Media Maters executive vice president Jamison Foser.

“Wow,” exclaimed Max Burns, a Democratic strategist and columnist. Hasan “is easily one of the sharpest, toughest, best-researched interviewers working today. His back-and-forths with politicians both left and right should be models for how to do the job effectively. What a ridiculous decision.”

Burns continued, writing: “I look at bizarre news like this and think to myself, if this industry is tossing aside singular forces of journalism like Mehdi, what hope is there for anyone? Clearly doing the job well isn’t protection from corporate decisions.

Sherrilyn Ifill, the civil rights attorney, professor of law and former Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), wrote that Hasan “has shown over and over again that he is so good at his craft. His is the journalistic rigor we need in this age of misinformation, lies, and wanna be celebrities masquerading as public servants. I cannot imagine not wanting to elevate his platform.”

READ MORE: How Mike Johnson Spent the Day Protecting Mike Johnson

“Oh no,” declared David Rothkopf, the foreign policy, national security and political affairs analyst and commentator, calling Hasan a “vital voice.”

“This is MSNBC’s loss. This is a cowardly move,” wrote conservative and former GOP congressman Joe Walsh, who said he and Hasan “disagree on plenty, especially with what’s happening in the Middle East. But Mehdi is an important and valuable voice. And he’s damn good at what he does. It’s so important that ALL viewpoints get heard. Bad move.”

In September Hasan “grilled” GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Watch that interview below or at this link.

 

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Trump Gag Orders Reinstated

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Just two days after Donald Trump allegedly used his social media account to target the wife of the judge presiding over New York’s civil business fraud case against him, an appellate court re-instated the gag orders banning him and his attorneys from making public statements about that judge’s principle law clerk.

“Court security officers said the clerk receives hundreds of threatening and harassing messages, spiking when Trump attacks her,” The Messenger reported.

The Messenger’s Adam Klasfeld posted the order denying Trump’s request to have the gag orders, imposed by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, lifted permanently.

The “terse” order did not offer a detailed explanation, nor did it mention Trump’s alleged attacks against Judge Engoron’s wife.

“On his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump shared at least four links about Justice Arthur Engoron’s wife, Dawn Marie Engoron,” Raw Story reported. “The reports were based on conservative activist Laura Loomer’s claim that Dawn Marie Engoron had shared derogatory information about the former president on social media. The Engorons have not confirmed ownership of the social media account or any connection to the posts.”

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